Russian Crypto Case Reaches Highest Court of the Land; Could Set Precedent for the Space

The Supreme Court of Russia has called for the St. Petersburg City Court to review an appeal against a cryptocurrency website that was blocked.

The website is bitcoin info.ru.

Observers have said that the final decision will affect dozens of crypto websites that currently have restricted access. This includes foreign platforms, such as Localbitcoins.com.

The case

In 2016, the Vyborgsky District Court of St. Petersburg granted prosecutors’ requests that the site be blocked. The court maintained that the information provided on the site about bitcoins should be considered as “a mean of virtual payment and accumulation,” which violated Russian law.

The website’s owner was reportedly not invited to participate in the hearings, nor was the owner informed of the decision that the site would be blocked. The owner was not able to appeal because the window to do so had closed.

All this set the stage for the case to wind up with the country’s Supreme Court.

Precedent

As noted above, the outcome of the case could set precedent and have a significant impact on the crypto space operating in Russia.

According to local reports, this is the first “cassation appeal against the blocking of a Bitcoin-related source to be reviewed by the Supreme Court.”

The Center for Digital Rights lawyers have reportedly said that the Supreme Court’s review of Bitcoininfo.ru should put an end to the debate about the legality of cryptos in Russia.

Over the past few years, the issue has reached the courts through a series of court filings. In fact, reports say that at least 20 appeals have been filed, however this case involving Bitcoininfo.ru is the first to reach the highest court in the land.

Crypto moves still afoot

As this legal wrangling plays out, there are some crypto-related moves afoot in Russia.

We reported to you earlier this month that the Russian Association of Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies (RACIB) is aiming to deploy a grand-scale crypto-park in Stupino to facilitate fundraising via ICOs and develop Blockchain-based products and decentralized apps.

Also, last week the head of the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property declared his support for the Blockchain technology at a Moscow-hosted conference on digital transformation.